New American Libraries supplement examines major trends in digital content

Leading library visionaries and experts discuss trends in digital content technology and the current state of library ebook lending in “Digital Discoveries,” a new digital supplement from American Libraries magazine.

Developed by ALA’s Digital Content Working Group (DCWG), the digital supplement examines the ways that public and school libraries are defining their roles in the evolving digital publishing environment in a variety of new and interactive ways. The digital supplement also details ALA’s progress in advocating for equitable access to ebooks produced by the world’s largest book publishers.

The supplement “Digital Discoveries” is the fourth American Libraries magazine supplement on ebooks and digital content. For more information about the ALA’s digital content activities, visit the American LibrariesE-content blog. Read the full report: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/28a54223.

“There is some reason for optimism,” said Alan S. Inouye, guest editor of the digital supplement and director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP). “However, there remain many formidable challenges and exciting opportunities for libraries within the digital content realm in the coming years.”

“Each change in the publishing ecosystem has helped us gain a better understanding of what might be coming,” said Molly Raphael, former ALA president, in an article that provides an overview of the existing ebook lending landscape. “Much work remains to be done, but we can say that ALA has made a difference in helping libraries and librarians find solutions for working in the digital world ecosystem.”

“We are on the cusp of beginning to see the full impact of the internet on the book business, and it will sweep away much of what we understand today about publishing,” said Peter Brantley, director of Scholarly Communication for Hypothes.is. In “Beating the Odds,” Brantley discusses how libraries can insert themselves into the budding self-publishing industry by connecting authors to readers and assisting the publishing process by assembling tools and services for writers and editors, for instance.

In “School Library Ebook Business Models,” library ebook lending experts Christopher Harris, Ric Hasenyager, and Carrie Russell discuss optimal ebook licensing models for school libraries. According to the authors, school libraries–unlike public libraries–have the option to access content from major publishing companies via online retailer platform models, such as Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble.

Roger Rosen provides a publisher’s perspective on the value of school libraries in the digital era. In “Digital Resources in School Libraries,” he explains how libraries are the “go-to destination for digital empowerment, training, and discovery” and how librarians are those that he “trust[s] the most to separate the music from the noise.”

In “Ebook Discovery,” Larra Clark, director of the ALA Program on Networks, explores ways that libraries can better connect readers to new ebook writers and titles. Libraries are currently increasing ebook exposure and expanding their digital services in a host of ways, including partnering with ebook distributors, developing mobile apps for readers and increasing engagement with social media technology.

Pew Internet Project researchers Kathryn Zickuhr and Lee Rainie provide perspectives based on three years of Pew reports on the rise in digital services in libraries in “A New Way of Looking at Public Library Engagement in America.” According to research cited in the article, Americans’ connection–or lack of connection–with public libraries is part of their broader information and social landscape. The authors reference research showing that people who value and utilize public libraries most heavily tend to be active in other parts of their communities.

The digital supplement concludes with a futuristic perspective on emerging digital technologies in “Through the Google Glass, Dimly,” written by Roger E. Levien, president of Strategy and Innovation Consulting. Levien focuses on how to conceptualize the revolution in digital content, which facilitates envisioning where libraries fit in the reading ecosystem. Robert J. Rua of the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library provides a case study of a newspaper transitioning to the digital era and its collaboration with the local library.

Join the ebook discussion at the 2014 American Library Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas. At the session “ALA and Moving Ahead with Digital Content,” a panel of leading library and publishing experts will discuss ALA ebook activities and detail important digital content trends, including key policy issues that impact libraries. Print copies of this supplement will be available at the conference. The ALA Digital Content Working Group will host the session on Saturday, June 28, 2014, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in the Las Vegas Convention Center, room N255/257.